12 and the Black Knight
by skak45
Summary: There wasn't any Marida fanfics, so, i made one! OC and Marida Pairing. Set after the End of Unicorn in an AU(I wont say what is AU, that would spoil episode 7). Please Review! Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam or any of the other things I make references to in this story.
1. Arrival

Space, it was big dark nothing.

It stretched on forever. This was nothing like the Granada base back on the moon, thought Yosef. Peering from the window of the transport he was riding, space felt a little overwhelming. Of course being a part of the Wolfpack Taskforce, he had spent month training near colonies for space battle, but being the far from anything was a first. "Pilot how long till the Nahel Argama?"

"About 15 more minutes." said the pilot

Yosef let out a small grunt of annoyance and cracked his fingers. He would much prefer to be in a cockpit of a suit than be sitting here in a cargo/passenger hold. To add to that, the shuttle was flying un-escorted. Sure, the Laplace Conflict had ended but that didn't mean that some Neo-Zeon fanatic wasn't waiting to blast them out of the sky. Was he getting paranoid, he thought, maybe, but that was the whole reason they were sending him to the Nahel Argama. The Wolfpack was originally an eight man team, but the higher ups decided that they should split them up and send them to various high value locations as "security advisers". God, sometime he thought the admirals traded IQ for ranks.

"5 minutes, get you stuff together" shouted the pilot.

1

"Marida Cruz, report to MS hanger." blared the commlink lying on the nightstand. Weary eyed and exhausted, Marida, groggily reached out to answer the beeping. She hadn't been sleeping well and was sure that that she was having some kind of dream. Groaning, she hit the answer button on the comm. "What is it, Rory?" She said with venom in her voice " The Kshatriya doesn't have maintenance scheduled and there are no training sorties today."

"Look, im really sorry to ask this, but there's a new mobile suit coming in today, and we need some extra hands. Im begging you."

"uhh, fine Rory, give me a minute, ill be there," she said, cutting the line.

She pulled herself out of bed and pulled on her normal suit for space work. Despite the fact that the Laplace Conflict was over, something was still eating her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe later she would ask Micott or Mineba about it.

Swinging out of her door, she made her way through the well lit corridors of the Nahel Argama. Despite having been there only a short while, the ship felt like home to her. The halls were well designed and it took her only a few minute to get to the MS hanger. Coming out of the door, she saw what they were moving.

Boy, was it a beauty. Being pulled on a cargo sled was a heavily modified Jesta Mobile suit. It was painted a tinted black, and its backpack seemed different.

"Admiring the goods?" said an unfamiliar voice.

Marida turned to see a person standing in the doorway wearing a federation uniform. She noticed his skin was an olive tan and his beard seemed rather unkept for a military man. He had a certain rugged aura about him.

A certain sense of pride came over Yosef whenever his Jesta Remus was loaded into a new ship. The crews would marvel over its black paint and weapons as it was put into a storage rack. This time was no acception. As he let out a sigh of satisfaction of the hanger decks quality, a flash of red caught his eye. One deck lower, he saw a women with long red hair scoping out his suit. On a whim he called her our for staring. He need to get to know the people on this ship, he might as well start here.

"It's a nice suit," she replied "you the pilot?"

"Name is Yosef, i got transferred here from Wolfpack"

Her eyes widened slightly at the mention of his unit.

" Well, i see you can handle it, what kind of mods?"

"I'ts called a Remus, it carries an extra mobility pack, a double beam spear, and a multi-launcher."

She gave him a smirk of approval "very nice, my name is Marida Cruz, i pilot the Kshatriya"

This time he was impress. She jumped away to help secure the Remus before Yosef could say anything, but he couldn't help but feel like this was a good start to this posting. That's when he remembered he had to get to the captains room for a briefing.

Well, nothing is perfect, he muttered as he dashed down the corridors.

Well the briefing was pretty basic, supply list, VIP list, emergency protocol. Tomorrow was a meeting with the current VIP, Mineva Leo Zabi and his team leaders. To think that he had been fighting these people less than a couple months ago. Surprisingly, he didn't have much animosity toward Zeon. He had seen the politician, soldiers and civilians separated in his mind. Politicians and high ranking soldiers were the only ones he truely hated. Mineva was the best bet for peace in his time so guarding her was almost a natural thing.

With that and the thought of the new friend he had made earlier, Yosef wore a smile as he walked into his assigned room. He threw his duffle down next to the foot locker that had been delivered earlier. Crashing onto the bed mattress, he unholstered his service pistol, set it on the nightstand and pulled his computer from his bag. Entering his password, a new email from his Mom popped up. Groaning, Yosef opened it. It wasn't that he didn't like his mom, she was great, supported him when he enlisted, and was so proud of him when he made Wolfpack. However, she was a bit pushy on one subject.

...I hope you are having a good time at your new posting. I was wondering if you'd be interested in meeting some of my lady friends daughters. They have all heard so much about you ( Crap, i probably have a freakin fan club back home) I think its about time you started thinking about finding a lady for yourself...

ahhh, moms. Even though that she and my father had met during his service, Yosef had seen enough divorces and bad break-up to see that they were the exception. He was married to the service and that was good enough for him. With that in mind he fired off a response politely declinening to meet with his fanclub and wishing him mom well. He flopped down on his bed, looking to get some sleep before the squad leaders meeting he had called. At 0400. Those poor souls, he thought as he drifted into sleep.

**More to come next chapter.**


	2. Meet and Scramble

Marida was never a morning person. Add to the fact that she had been having reoccurring nightmares, she wasn't finding lifting her body out of her bed an easy task. Why the frick did the new security team leader want the squad leaders in the briefing room at 0400 she thought. Groaning, she flipped off of the mattress and shuffled into the shower, hoping to wash away some of the tiredness. Hitting the water button and stepping into the hot spray of water, she felt some of her sense awakening. After a couple minutes she stepped out and started drying and dressing. That's when she noticed the scars adorning her back. Unlike, battle scars many people bragged about, Marida's scars were nothing but pain and shame, a time of life that was stolen away, and she hoped to forget. " I am not that anymore" she said, willing the thoughts from her mind. Slipping, her Neo Zeon uniform with her new FZPK patch, she exited the room, making sure she had a few extra minute to grab coffee before she headed to the meeting.

Sitting at the end of the briefing table, next to Captain Mitas made Yosef feel like quite the big shot. "No wonder the admirals are all crazy, this can go to your head" he jokingly reflected. Around the holographic display table sat two-thirds of his team. The one nearest to him and the first to show up was Banagher Link. While his military careers was practically non-existent, the kid had a good head on his shoulders and a natural gift for piloting. Just in the five minutes he had talked he could tell he was a team player and they would get along well. The next to arrive and the person who currently sat farthest from him was Suberoa Zinnerman. A grizzly scared veteran of the One year war, he was a grizzly bear of a man, who commanded his squad from the front lines with experience and respect. The third member, who was.. "Speak of the devil, hear she is" exclaimed Yosef. Marida, had a bit of a dumbfounded look and a little twitch started to form when she realized who her new commander who, had called a meeting at four in the morning was.

"Great, now that you're all here, we can start," Said Cpt. Mitas "This, sitting next to me is Lt. Yosef Takeru. He is the security adviser that will be taking tactical command over all squads on the Nahel from now on out. I expect you all to treat him with the respect he deserves. I will let him take things from here, please call me on the bridge if you need me." With that he rose from his seat and left the room. Taking my cue, i stood up and continued where he left off.

"Well since we are all introduced, I'm gonna cut straight to the chase. We are here to protect at all cost. If we want to survive while we do this, we are going to need to be smart strong and dedicated. I expect my officers to be the example to their men. I will strive to do the same. Can I count on you to do the same?"

Banagher gave an enthusiastic yes. A "yes sir" from Marida and a grunt from Zinnerman. Not a bad response considering he had just winged that little speech.

Marida was actually quite impressed with the new Lt. After that cheesy speech, he had gotten right down to business, handing out data packs with tactical formations, emergency plans and supplementary training. This was looking good, in theory.

"Sir, what's going to be the main role for the squad leaders suits?" asked Banagher. An excellent question in her opinion. She cracked a little grin seeing how much Banagher had learned in such a short time.

"Great question, Banagher. The Unicorn, will manly be a vanguard, thining out the enemy at the front of the formation. It's NTD system could also be useful if the enemies are new type. My Remus and Zinnerman's Geara Zulu will be moving around midfield comanding troops and taking down anything that gets past your squad. Marida, you taking up the rear..."

"Excuse me" She interjected "Why am I the rear, this isn't some sexist crap is it"

"Don't mind her" Zinerman whispered "She's gotten alot more open since the end of the war"

"I see" mumbled back Yosef " Marida the reason I assigned you to the rear is that the Kshatriya is the only suit with an I field and funnels. You get where I'm going"

"I see" I said puffing her cheeks out.

"cute" he shot back, making Marida blush slightly. " meeting over, however, at 0730 I'm issuing an emergency scramble simulation. "

A chorus of groans ensued. That jerk Lt. was defiantly enjoying our suffering. She swear she saw him smile as he walked out of the door.

Yes, Yosef was smiling. For two reason, the first of which being he had a surprise in store for the squad leaders. Second of all, he found it amusing to tease Marida. Was that a bit unprofessional, yea, it was, but we all need to get our kicks somehow. But, more importantly, thought Yosef, time to meet the principle. Mineva Leo Zabi. 16 years old and already the Empress of the Zeon. That was something. Seeing as he had reached the newly installed, shiny mahogany wooden doors to the VIP conference room. Not knowing what to do, he just knocked.

"Enter" said a kind but authoritative voice. Pushing the heavy doors open, he saw Mineva sitting at the far side of the long meeting table. Despite being so young, she had an extremely commanding presence. Her green eyes, seemed to stare into you're soul. Taking a deep breath to clear his mind he walked the length of the table and took a seat next to her. " Miveva Zabi, a pleasure to finally meet you" he said, extending his hand. "Likewise" she replied giving it a soft, but firm shake. A part of his training was information gathering. Yosef was getting alot from the young Zabi. Kind but strong, seemed to be a reoccurring theme with her.

"Well if you don't mind, your highness, I'd like to get straight to business" he said

"Please call me Mineva" said she said.

"I'd prefer to keep it professional for now," said Yosef " but if you prefer, i could call you Princess Zabi?"

"For now, yes" she replied, looking a bit disappointed. " however, I like to be on friendly term with my staff."

He smiled. "I didn't say unfriendly, I just want to be strictly professional for the time being." She seemed to be happy about that. " Now, lets get to business. We need to discuss your protection detail. What kinds of things do you want?"

"Well," she said "I don't want to look like we are still at war, but i do understand that we need to be cautious."

Opening the datapad, Yosef flipped though the options he had drawn up until he found one that he liked. " How does this look" he said, sending her the file.

" I like it " said Mineva, her warm smile lighting up. "It keeps me quite safe, yet it allows me to remain well scene to the public. However, are the main ship batteries readied and eight mobile suits deployed really necessary?"

Pondering for a moment, Yose suggested a compromise " How a bout we limit that to high risk ports and we have half the suits standing inside the hanger. For low risk ports we can deploy only the Jesta, Gera Zulu, Kshatriya and the Unicorn."

"That would give me maximum protection while serving as a symbol of unity."

"My thoughts exactly" Yosef was getting along with her alot more than usual VIP's. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"No that will be all for now" She said politely, "However, if you have time sometime, i make it a habit to have dinner and get to know my top staff."

"I would be happy to" he said, standing from his seat " I must say, this was one of the most enjoyable VIP meetings I've had"

They both grinned. "Now if you'll excuse me, i have a scramble sim, to run."

"But, wasn't that from 0730? its only 0630" said a slightly surprised Mineva.

"I like to keep everyone on their toes." Said a manically grinning Yosef.

Two minutes later, on the other side of the Nahel Argama...

Intercom: ALL PILOTS REPORT TO FLIGHT DECK FOR EMERGENCY SCRAMBLE SIM.

That, new LT. I haven't even known him for a full day and he's already ticking me off. That, among other murderous things, was what was going through Marida Cruz's tired brain. Even during naps, the dreams would come and she still couldn't remember what they were about. Focusing her mind back to the task at hand, she glided down the zero-gravity corridor and opened the door to the pilot locker room. Since they would only put on combat normal suits in there, the room weren't separated and she could see LT. Yosef standing in his suit while Zinnerman, Banagher and some of the others were getting into theirs.

"What happened to 0730?" She exclamed while pulling her suit from the locker.

"So I lied. So I can't tell time. So maybe some warmongering psychopath's going to make an appointment pop you a new vent hole in your ship. You adapt. You overcome. You improvise." he growled.

"Heartbreak Ridge, really?" groan Marida

"I'm impressed, Cruz" he chuckled " We will be conducting the briefing on the move, all pilots to your suits." And with that the gung ho jar head, grabbed his wolf motif painted helmet and left of for his Jesta.

We'll see if he can really handle that machine, now won't we. Marida was putting her helmet on so she could hear the briefing broadcast while she moved to the Kshatriya .

"To all hands this will be an actual launch sim, so make sure you have your weapons set to training mode and that you're suit is liked to the server." One of the advantages of Mobile Suits was that by linking to server, one could do extremely realistic augmented reality training using the suits display screens. Couple this with the fact that you could actually be moving the suit while doing this, it was the closest you could get to real combat.

"Due to a high degree of Minovski particles we are fighting with limited intel. We have approximately nine to twelve mobile suits approaching at attack velocity. We will deploy in a standard three wave delta, i'll be part of Zinnerman squad. Bangher squad will deploy first and break the enemy formation, Zinner squad will deploy next and eliminate stragglers. Cruz squad will provide close ship protection and heavy fire support." Tck, while his tactics were sound Marida hated being in the back of a fight. At least Yosef said heavy support so she could fire the Mega-Particle Cannon. With those "happy" thoughts she jumped from the walk way to the Kshatriya cockpit. Strapping into the seat the 360 degree monitors flared to life as she powered up the fusion reactor. Seeing as all of the systems were displaying green, she let herself relax for a minute and let our a big yawn. Dang, she had forgotten how tired she was.

"Marida, are you Ok?" said Banagher. Oh crap, she had forgotten her mike was still open.

"Cruz, if something is up, tell me now, i need you at 100 percent" orders Yosef.

"I'm fine," she said, willing herself awake. "Thanks for worrying Bangher."

"No problem" he said, loading the Unicorn Gundam onto the catapult deck.

"So you like em young ?" Yosef said over a private channel

"What?" Marida said, appalled " Banagher is like a little brother to me"

"Mhhh, your point being?" Yosef chimed moving his Jesta into the launch position.

"Really, this again?"

"Sorry, just how I deal with nerves." he said."No hard feelings?"

She sighed. It seem like they dealed with stress in opposite ways " Forgiven." Marida said.

Maybe that last joke went a bit to far. Well i'll apologize later.

"Yosef Takeru, Jesta Remus,Semper Fi." he announced, signalling the catapult to fling his suit from the flight deck. Feeling the rush of G's pressed aginst him, he switched his mind from, normal to combat mode. He hit a switch bringing up a real time tactics HUD. Banagher's team was about to make contact with the computer generated enemy. The battle conditions were also randomized so he had no idea what he would be facing. Calculating risks and rewards, along with pilot skill, he bg to make a rough plan.

"Banagher, unload on the enemy squads force them to scatter."

"Roger that," he replied " We count a total of 12 Hizack type suits all well armed."

" Copy" Yosef said. Readying the Remus beam carbine, he took another look at the tactical display. Since the suits were liked together, he could see where the enemies were located based off of the sensors of Banagher team. Seeing as the enemy was acting as predicted, scattering to avoid the mid range beam barrage and regrouping at a predictable point, it was time to give them hell.

"Marida, you and your squad give me a 5 second barrage on these coordinates" he barked "Use the Ewac Jegan to boost the Stark's accuracy"

"Two steps a head of you boss." Seeing him take command like that was really, awsome, he was proving to be a reliable commander. " commencing Mega Beam and missile barrage." She had some dark, but empty satisfaction as she proceeded to unleash the Kshatriya four chest mounted and four front wing mounted Mega Beam cannons on the cpu enemies.

"Zinnerman, take units 3-5 with you and attack the enemy left flank, ill take 6-8 and get the other side." Now was the part that was Yosef's specialty, mid range, suit to suit combat. Punching the throttle, his Jesta accelerated to engagement speed and began scanning for the remaining hizacks. According to the read out there should only be 5 left. "Units, spread and scan, estimated visual contact with enemy in 10 sec"

True to his calculations, ten seconds later three green Hizacks, guns blazing, came zooming towards them. As if on cue Yosef and the three pilots following him scattered and returned fire. "Motionless Operators Ventilate Easily, MOVE!" was what Yosef father told him, recounting his days as a GM SPARTAN pilot in Borneo. True to his advise, moving while shooting had kept him and Yosef alive though all of their battles. Now was no different. Seeing one Hizack racing straight toward him, Yosef hit the controls, bursting his Jesta of the line of attack while firing into the side of the Hizack with his carbine. Seeing it, crumple and explode he turned to see the rest of his mini-squad finishing off the other two. Peeking at the tactical read out, he grinned as all enemies were destroyed. That's when he saw a small blip o his ladar read out. Though particle interference was too strong to get a clear read, he saw whatever it was, was moving fast and straight toward the Nahel Argama.

" Cruz, heads up, small number of extremely fast movers heading in from 2, -45. I'm moving into intercept, but i wont catch them all." Yosef yelled, gunning the throttle.

Hearing the heads up Marida started scanning the sector indicated and lanched some of her funnels. If the read out was right, the fast movers were coming in a suicidal speed. Wait, that's it ! " All suits be advised, fast movers possibly suicide bombers."

"I'm coming in along side of them!" Yosef yelled, " confirmed, those are carrying a bomb, three suits." With that he punched the steering boosters, pulling a 180 turn and started a high speed duel with one of the suits, using his double beam spear.

Marida was actually impressed, duelling at that speed required extream skill. However, that was an after thought as she was now busy focusing her funnels on the two remaining suits. Since the standard aiming algorithms on the suits were out done by the suits speed, Kshatriya was one of only suits that was effectively engaging the enemy. The suicide suit was jerking around and making effective hit was extremely frustrating. " Just die already!" She raged, firing her funnels simultaneously, creating a web of beams, cutting the first suit into minced meat. Noticing the second suit was two close for that tactic, she lanched the Kshatriya forward, ramming into it claws first. While the simulated explosion was huge, the armour wing were enough to allow most of the suit survive relatively ok.

"Well, 100 points for creativity and aggressiveness, Cruz" Chimed a jovial, Israeli voice over the radio. "All suits return to the ship, good job." His suit flashed a thumbs up as he landed back on the Nahel.

Maybe the new LT. wasn't so bad after all Marida thought.


	3. Launch? No, Lunch

"Well, i think that went pretty well" said Yosef. He and his squad leaders were having a informal debrief after the sim, in the ships cafeteria.

"We need to update the targeting algorithms on the ReZELs and Jestas though. In real combat I'd prefer not to have to ram the Kshatriya into a bomb laden suit." groaned Marida. She had her head buried in her arms resting on the table.

"I see your point, ill send it to the tech guys" he replied. " You want coffee or something?"

"I'll live"

"Ok, then. Zinner, Banagher, got any complaints, comments, suggestions?" said Yosef

" During the fight i realised the Gera Zulu is going to need some mods to perform in that kind of role, nothing huge but substantial." Zinnerman said, in his usual, low voice.

"Right" Yosef said, taping aways at his datapad. "Ill group your request with Marida's to the techs."

"I have a request as well" piped Banagher " in close combat I realized that my Jesta squad needed a more substantial melee weapon."

"Any ideas of what kind weapons? " he inquired

"Hmmm, no nothing specific, just... I don't know, beam sabers aren't cutting it." said Banagher

"I'll tell you what, ill get in contact with some of my friends in supply get them to send a shipment of assorted weapons, try em out and tell me what you like" Yosef replied.

Banagher face lit up at the thought "sounds great!" Yea, the kid had definitely heard the war sirens call. He was a soldier.

"Is that all? If so this meeting is over. I'd like to do one of these after every deployment. Keep it open so everyone can voice opinions. Also, i like to get to know my staff one on one, so tell me when your open, and lets get lunch at the officer mess."

"We have officer mess?" said Zinner

"Yea, looks like they built it next to the VIP meeting room." said a puzzled Yosef

"Dang, nobody tells me anything." he said, storming out the mess halls doors.

Noticing Banagher getting up Yosef spoke "I'd like to meet with you first. How's next week after the schedule maintenance?"

"Yes sir, im free" he replied, a little to formal for his liking.

"Cool, oh and when you come back to the table, bring her some coffee." He gestured to Marida who still had her face in her arms.

"Got it."

Boy, what a rag tag crew. Two Neo Zeons, a 16 year old with barely a couple month of combat experience. Oh, God, Yosef didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

**One week later**

"So tell me a bit about your self, Banagher" said Yosef, setting down his plate of waffles, eggs and bacon.

"Well, I'm not sure where to start." Banagher said, seeming slightly nervous.

"Well, how'd you end up piloting the Unicorn? Lets start with that."

"Thats a very long story" said Banagher as he described the meeting Mineva, the ECOAS attack," those guys give us spec ops a bad name. There just a bunch of roided up, chimps with guns. no professionalism", meeting his father and the search for Laplace' Box that followed.

"Crap! Kid, you got some real balls, pulling off something like that." exclaimed Yosef.

"How about you, sir? How did you end up in Wolfpack." Banagher asked back.

"Well, my grandpa and father were both career military men. I guess they really shaped me alot. When i was little, my grandpa built a simulator out of old GM parts and would teach me how to pilot. My dad was out on deployment alot but he would always teach me the new tactics when he came back."

"sounds like a great dad" said Banagher

"Yea, but he was KIA during the Axis Shock"

"Worry, sorry LT. What about your mother?"

"Ah, yes" said Yosef with a slight cringe "She still alive and trying to hook me up with her lady friends daughter. I'm still not ready for any kind of relationship though. What about yourself?"

"Ah, well you see, me and Mineva have ahh," Banagher stuttered out.

"HAHAHA" laughed Yosef. "You're with the principle? Not to mention the princess of Neo Zeon." His laughter would just not stop. "Just remember this, once I was on body guard duty and there was a new guy on the team. He hooked up with the principle. Long story short, we began with one VIP and ended with two?"

"The f-!" Banagher was choking on his orange juice.

" Needless to say, we chucked him on the next shuttle off the station." said Yosef wiping his eyes. " but i think you're smart enough to avoid that."

Oh boy, Banagher links. This kid was something special.

**One week later, again. **

"Marida, you're early" said Yosef as he set his plate down and took a seat across from her.

" Good habit to keep" she said, eying his plate. "Are you really eating waffles, eggs and hash for lunch?"

"I am a simple man, i like breakfast food" he replied drizzling syrup over the waffles. "I see that you on the other hand, prefer something more hearty." Her plate was tacked with rice salad and ribs.

"Cyber Newtypes burn calories at an extream rate when using a psycommu system." Marida explained " If you think this is alot, you should see me after a battle."

"that must be a sight" he said, sipping a energy drink.

"That stuff's gonna kill you" she said with a concerned glare.

"Ah, i'll live long enough. What are you planning on doing after the service?"

"I don't know, I've literally been military my whole life. Maybe, i'll settle down and have lots of kids, somewhere sunny."

He stared at her as he chewed some eggs. "that sounds terrifying"

"The sun?"

" No, you with kids"

"What's that supposed to mean?" They had only know each other for two weeks and this type of banter was becoming a regular thing.

" Nothing, but if it ever does happen, you need to send me a pic."

"Well, you're going to be there uncle, given that you wont be having any" Marida shot back.

"Who said anything about that?" he said " Besides, I'm great with kids"

She shot him a smug look, "Really the guys who spends his spare time reading Art of War, on the fire range and watching Princess Bride"

"That was a great movie"

"Never seen it." Marida had never been one for movies,

" Cruz, you are missing out on one of the greatest movies ever." Yosef sighed "So what do you do in you down time?"

"I like to read" she said

"really, what's your favorite?" he asked

"Um, I'm not sure if you know about this but Lord of the Rings" she said, kinda looking down.

"I love that series" Her face suddenly lit up " Aragorn or Legolas?"

"Legolas was kinda gay, with the flowing long hair and stuff, Aragorn was real man" she strongly proclaimed.

Wow, Marida Cruz was a very interesting person when you got her talking. Despite this, he felt they would still keep up their usual banter.

**Yet another week later. **

Feeling a little out a place at a fancy officers mess hall, Zinnerman sat down across from the Lt.

"So Zinnermanm, sorry to have to schedule you last. You're a very busy man." apologized Yosef.

"Well i like to keep myself useful" he replied

"Well according your file you're a very useful man. I see a life time of quality military service. One Year War veteran, guerilla activities, broke out of prison to hunt down you're families killer. Says that's where you found Marida." Yosef said

"Do you have a problem with any of that? " Zinnerman was slightly uncomfortable about his file, but he had come to peace with most of it.

"Not at all, Zinnerman. The way you fought, low resources, that shows some skill." Yosef complimented "We're currently going to be fighting guerillas, so I like having one on our team."

They both grinned at each other. Zinner and Yosef were both predators. Off the battlefield they had other personas but on it, they lived for the hunt and the kill.

"Let's loosen up a bit" said Yosef, leaning back and unbutoning his collar "what are you eating today?"

"I think I'm getting the steak, you?"

"Waffle, eggs and bacon" Zinnerman gave him a funny look.

"Please don't, Marida said what your going to say"

"Haha" the zeon captain let out a hearty laugh. "She's come a long way. When I first found her, she was so timid, she asked permission for everything. After a couple of years, she finally was able to do things on her own." he said, recounting his adopted daughters growth. " After she became friends with Banagher though she really became herself."

"Sounds like friends really helped her" Yosef pondered " I guessed were all really blessed, you guys have really welcomed me"

"To family and friends" said Zinner raising his glass.

"Those here and those lost" he replied rasing his glass to meet Zinners.

"So I saw Banagher take out some of the new weapons for a test run today." a grinning Zinner said " Seemed like a kid at Christmas. Those weapons you got him crates had beam tomahawks, axes, naginatas, a heat whip, I haven seen those in a while. I think Banagher is getting some of our influences."

A laugh escaped as Yosef pondered that thought. "Good Lord, next thing you know he's gonna get a unit tattoo and his favorite meal is gonna be "something i made out of a MRE while on long recon."

" Don't tell me you did that too?" replied Zinner " My favorite was always a stew made from the chicken penne pasta with cracker"

"I'd usually grind the burgers into a paste and mix them with something to make em more palatable" he replied " I did that for a week while patrolling down in the Kalahari."

"Wait the Kalahari? When?" aked Zinner

"about a year after Axis drop. Why do you ask?"

"I was in that area. We were running supplies for Zeon remnants."

Yosef was in utter shock. "You slippery little spacenoid. You had me running all around that sandbox, taking mortar fire and ambushes for weeks."

"Well you gave us a run for our money too. Got my Zulus head blown off."

There was a moment of awkward silence; followed by echoing laughter as they realized how close they came to killing each other.

"Well, Zinner, I'm glad both of our aims were bad those times and I'm really glad you're on our side" said Yosef half jokingly. He stood up from the table and scooted the chairs back into place.

"I enjoyed having lunch with you Lt." said Zinner doing the same " As my old unit said, "May the reaper ride behind you" " and with that he left the room.

**About another week later**

This week made almost a month of being on the Nahel Argama. Things had been extremally busy for Yosef, seeing as he had to run drills, coordinate schedules, check local law enforcement for colonies they visited, among other things. However, today provided a brief rest for him. At her request, he was having lunch with Princess Miveva. The hall that led to the VIP dinning room was something else. It had a warm soft lighting, and it had actual carpeting. A little to extravagant for his simple tastes. Wearing dress uniform in itself was a bit to formal for Yosef. He preferred the familiar feel of BDUs. Pushing the door to the dinning room door open, his eyes widened as Mineva sat there, not in her usual Zeon uniform but in normal shirt and jeans clothes.

Mineva stifled a laugh as she saw how dressed up he was. "Lieutenant, didn't I tell you that this was informal?"

"Well you said VIP dinning room so I assumed a bit of dress up was necessary" said a flustered Yosef

"Don't be so up tight," she said motioning for him to sit across from her. The food was already laid out. By no means was there alot, but it looked delicious. "Take off you're coat, you're making me feel stuffy."

"Wow, I honestly wasn't expecting it to be this relaxed." He set his coat on the back of the chair and plopped down.

She grinned. "These lunches are a way for me to relax and get to know my staff. So how have you been, Yosef"

Breathing out, he felt some of the pressure on him vent in the relaxed atmosphere. " Very busy, mostly just admin stuff. I'm really glad you decided to visit low risk colonies and sites first. I can't imagine operating in a NPE after just coming here."

Mineva raised her eyebrow "NPE?" she asked.

"Oh sorry, that's a word the spec ops guys uses. Non Permisive Environment. It's basically anywhere where you aren't very welcomed."

"I see. Glad that the schedule helped. Aside from the work, how is the crew treating you?"

"Like family. These guy's are a bunch of ragtag maniacs but they get results. I couldn't ask for anything better."

"What about personally, not professionally?" she pried gently.

Yosef smiled at the thought. Mineva was definitely than the rest of the Zabi family. She genuinely cared for the people that worked with her. " I think my closest friends are the squad sergeant. Zinner is cut from the same cloth as me. We both have a bit of battle addiction. Not only that but he has a nack for leadership and strategy."

"I agree, Zinner was the commander of my personal bodyguards. Even though we didn't agree, he was always kind to me. I think he saw me for a kid when everyone saw "Princess of Zeon" Miveva recalled.

"Yeah he does give off that, big bear feeling" he said causing them both to laugh. "As for Banagher, i think the kid has a good head. He reminds me of when i first enlisted. Wide eyed, eager and clueless. Despite that he is a hard worker. He even asked me to mentor him in combat techniques" Mineva's eyes got bigger at that last statement "Don't worry, i'll go easy on him for both of your sake" he reassured her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said, obviously lying.

"He told me about you two" stated Yosef

"That moron, I trust you've told no one?" Smiling, Yosef nodded.

"Well, that ok then, what about Marida?" said a relived Mineva.

"I'd say frienemies. We enjoy verbal jousting with each other. Sometime we over do it, but we always make up. Lately, I've been dragging her to watch classic movies with me. I think over all, we really enjoy each others company."

"Nothing romantic?" jested Mineva with a little grin. The question caught Yosef off guard as he was drinking.

"Cough, cough! What the heck?" She had her head tilted back and was bursting with laughter. Wiping the water from his face, he glared at the still laughing VP. This was going to be one of the most fun assignments he had ever had.

...

More chapters to come!


	4. Smoke

Lurching awake in a cold sweat, Marida let out a long, high pitched scream. Having fought though two wars, there were very few things that could scare the veteran pilot. However, the nightmare had taken shape. From the foggy screams and terrifying feelings, memories arose. The ones that haunted her from her past came every night. The kind that made her need a long, cleansing shower and kept her up for the rest of the night. And that is where she found herself now, lying in bed, hyped up on coffee, hair still wet from a long shower. " Forget" she thought, " I need to forget, everything." But how? Memories, nightmares, abuse,escape those were the words that kept her up, until like tonight, she would fall asleep, quietly sobbing.

**000000000000000000000000000000**

All personal to level 2 combat stations. Prepare for partial deployment.

Yosef stepped into the briefing room and took a calming breath. Sitting in neat rows were the pilots that today, he would be leading into their first flashpoint. If they felt as nervous as him, they sure were hiding it well.

"As you all know, today the principle, Mineva Zabi will be visiting the A Baoa Qu space fortress. She hopes to meet with the current prime minister, do a Q and A with the press on the new Zeon/EF cooperation and them visit a memorial dedicated to those lost at the battle." A holographic display showed a layout of the once military base asteroid turned space colony.

"The main events will be the state dinner at the governors palace, a press conference at the state plaza, and the visitation to the memorial." The screen flashed out picture of each of the sights, pulling the pilots attention to various vulnerable point. Every pilots in the rooms mind was racing, analyzing the photos and maps, scanning for choke points, possible sniper hides, ambush sites.

"The most vulnerable point will be the memorial visitation, obviously because it's located on the outside of the asteroid."

A chorus of groan, cuss words, and general complaints fillied the room. "Who's idea was that? This is too dumb for Miveva" said Gomez, one of the Jesta pilots from Banaghers squad.

Facepalm "I talked to Miveva about that. It seems that the receiving governor demanded this" said Yosef "No choice it seems. Personally, I think that the Gov has some shady guys in his cabinet. We are on full alert at all times."

"Now, this is how the deployments will be..."

**000000000000000000000000000000**

**Reception banquet**

"MS team to PD, radio check, how's the food looking" chimed Yosef. Sitting in his Remus's cockpit, the 360 monitor gave him a great view of the palace's court and garden. This hunk of rock had come a long way from the old Zeon military style. The garden was like the Palace of Versailles, fountains, flowers, the whole grand thing. And sitting at the four corners of the palace were four MS, rifles locked and loaded, scanning for threats.

"You're missing out here, MS" said Robert, leader of ground team "they got caviar and shrimped wrapped in bacon." Feeling the weight of his carbine under his coat he turned to check on Miveva. Seeing her socializing with some of the other guest, he opened his comm-link.

"Principle is secure, nothing seems, out of place"

"Roger that" scanning the area again, Yosef, ran system diagnostics, checking his suits weapons. Finding them, again, to be full, he pulled his carbine from the cockpits weapon rack and did a function check.

" This is Phalanx Actual, red side is clear, all units report in."

Green Clear, White Clear, Black Clear.

Racking the weapons bolt, he checked in with the response team. " Mercury, status report"

"Ready to roll" responded Marida. A kilo away, she was sitting in a bought out warehouse with her Kshatriya and a squad of Gera Zulus. If anything were to happen at the banquet it was their job to go in fast and hard, coving the VP's extraction. However, at the moment her and the three other pilots, where waiting, eating some canned meat. If you could call it meat.

" How's the food?"

"Were outside, but PD said it sounds great" he clicked the carbine back into place. "I got a bad feeling. Like a little itch on the back of my brain."

" I know, something about this place feels wrong" She racked her handgun, checking the sights.

"Let's get just get this job over with, my blood pressure is spiking"

"Old man" she teased

"cougar" he smiled like a maniac. While that comment would have usually been followed by a long verbal joust, Robert cut in with an urgent report.

"Phalanx, we have a suspicious figure, sending photo." A new window popped up in the 360 monitor. The man photographed was in his 40's, clean shaven in a suit, yet something was off. He seemed slightly too rugged to be mixed in with all of the politicians and dignitaries.

"Da##, I just lost him."

"Mercury, standby on high alert. Phalanx, we may have a possible situation."

**00000000000000000000000000000000**

In the end, nothing really happened at the party.

"Ahhhhh, my God this sucks" cried Yosef. Since his shift on MS duty had ended he was back on the Nahel, showering off in the locker room. After the suit guy had ran off, he had a white knuckle grip on his suits controls. As a result of that, his hands were cramped.

"Hand cramps?" yelled Zinner from the next shower over

"Yea, I'm trying to get it out" he said, letting the hot water run over his hands. Uh, although he loved the job, he hated the down times.

" Keep it down or you'll get arthritis later."

"Ugh, Marida's right, i will turn into an old man" He scrubbed the stink from his body. Sitting in a pilot suit for a couple hour was definitely not hygienic.

**0000000000000000000000000000000**

"Alright Banagher, ill leave it to you" said Yosef. Unlike yesterday, he was sitting in the situation room of the Nahel, looking over a hologram display of the press conference. Banagher was on this shift so he and the Jesta squad was taking the MS security details. After the scare yesterday, one of the Jesta's had a full cannon pack on it. If anyone tried to fly a suit or a plane into the conference, the beam cannon, grenades and multi-launcher would tear it into paper mache. While that was great, there were still a lot of unknowns. And that is why Yosef was staring at holograms and advising Banagher when he was supposed to be resting.

"You workaholic" swiveling his chair, he saw Marida standing in the door way.

" I'm just jumpy, something about this colony rubs me wrong," swiping the display, he scrolled though the surveillance footage. Seeing that he wasn't going anywhere, Marida walked in and took a seat across from him.

"What are we looking for?" she said in her usual stone cold voice. The red haired pilot was not only a warrior but her analysis skills were second to none. It came from a long time of running and guerilla fighting. Sometimes, intel was the only advantage they had.

"Pattern, same people, if you can run some facial rec software." he said, popping files across the screen.

2 hours later

"Ahhhh, nothing" the two said in unison. Facial Rec, surveillance comparison, nothing.

"Well, i guess we should sleep. I'm on standby tomorrow." said Yosef wiping the sleeping from his eyes.

"I'll say, either we're paranoid or these guys are really good." Marida had her feet propped up on the desk. " At least the press conference went well and tomorrow we can leave.

Yosef cracked his back. "Ahhh, frick. well I'm going to get some shut eye." Looking over at her,Yosef saw that she looked haggard. " You might want to get some too. Are you ok?"

"Im fine," she lied, turning away to hide the dark spots under her eyes. "Just been having trouble sleeping."

"Well" he said standing from his chair. " Hope you sleep better. See you tomorrow"

**00000000000000000000000000000000**

_LT. wake up you're going to want to hear this!_

"The crap?" said Yosef, rolling over in bed " I have at least 4 hours till standby."

"Things just went FUBAR, get up to the briefing room!" yelled Zinner though the intercom. The words registered in his brain, sending it into high gear.

"That bad?" puling on pants and grabbing a shirt, he rushed in to the hallway, down though the briefing room. Too his surprise, Mineva was sitting with Zinner, Marida and Banager at the table.

"What's up?"

" Those morons at the A Bao a Qu council are demanding we reduce the guard at the memorial. Some bull about MS being disrespectful to fallen." said Mineva. Dang, she was scary. This was the first time she had actually been angry and she looked liked a rudely awakened bear. Marida looked similar, just a bit more tired. The two were in synch or something because the proceeded to cuss out the council using descriptions that made Zinner blush. After about 10 minutes, they calmed down enough to talk.

"We can't stop the event" solemnly said Mineva

"What?" exclaimed Banagher "that's ridiculous! It's in space you'll be exposed!"

"No she's right" Zinner agreed " this would show weakness at a critical time."

"Mineva's protection is the highest priority." butted in Marida "We need to haul out of here, asap"

"Everyone! Shut up!" Yosef rarely shouted, but they needed one plan, not five.

"Mineva decision is the one we must follow. Each of you took an oath to protect her and that's damn well what we'll do." He took a long, calming breath.

"Miveva, are you sure you want to do this?"

" I'm sure, we can't back down now." She said, he resolve as firm as steel.

"In that case, we need to change the protection detail. All four of us are sortieing tomorrow, full load out."

**00000000000000000000000000000**

"Banagher Link, Unicorn Gundam, Launching!"

"Suberoa Zinnerman, Gera Zulu, Heading Out."

"Marida Cruz, Kshatriya, Rolling out"

" Yosef Takeru, Jesta Remus, Let's rock!"

The four suits jetted out of the Nahel's catapult deck, engines roaring as the headed for the A Bou A Qu memorial.

"Really, "let's rock" ?" said Marida. Her suit had the most firepower and was the pointman of their formation. "That's really cliche."

"Bite me, Cruz" said Yosef " Just cause you have a Justin Styles poster in you room, doesn't mean i can't enjoy rock.

Much to his surprise she suddenly got ever defensive. " H-h-ey, it perfectly normal for a girl to have those kinds of thing..." suddenly, the comms went extremely silent.

"Wait, so you do?" asked Banagher. God, if you are there, take me now, she thought. Thankfully for her, Zinnerman cut off any further chit chat.

" 10 min to memorial, cut the chatter." Today his usually lightly armed Gera, was sporting a sniper rifle and had some extra anti-armor rockets strapped to its back and legs.

"Roger that! All units, weapons ready and sensor to full power." ordered Yosef. It was time to shed the person and become the reaper.

**00000000000000000000000000000**

Authors stuff.

_I apologize for making 1d/Bieber refrence. _

_._

_._

_._

_Actually, I don't. It's my story. _

_Stay Frosty,_

_SKAK_


	5. What? More Smoke?

_Today citizens, we the Axis-Zeon remnants, along side the ambassador for the new Zeon Empress, will present this wreath as a sign of peace to come..._

"All units, standby. Athena is on the move." Yosef was extremely edgy. This was by far the riskiest part of the operation. The 0079 Memorial was located on a small plateau, outside of the main asteroid. In order to get there, the leaders and the media following them would have to cross a transparent space bridge. Needless to say, a single round from a MS could cause a catastrophic decompression, flinging the whole entourage into space. The disturbing thoughts were interrupted by a banging on his MS. " Crap, what is this?" He focused the monitor closely, finding that some space debris were banging up his suit. "This is Alpha Wolf. All pilots be advised large amounts of space debris entering area."

"Roger that" replied Marida. Man, but how inconvenient. All this junk floating in right as the press conference. Something was just too... imperfect.

"Banagher, something up, you feel anything?" Focusing, she tried to detect any intent of harm. However, she knew that Banagher's Newtype abilities were far more powerful than hers.

"Something, it feels, residual." he answered. " Wait! Somethings up!" Frantically, looking around, Banagher quickly found the source of the killer intent.

"PD Team, check the media crowd!" he shouted. Then, everything went to hell.

"It's the guy from the banquet." shouted Robert. He raised his PDW as the crowd of camera crews and reporters scattered.

"Seig Zeon!" The mystery man shouted, raising a what looked like a detonator. He didn't even get half way up though. The PD team put him down with a bust of weapon fire. However, the chaos was far from over. Without warning, the "space debris" that had been floating by burst into thick, dark smoke.

"Smoke!" yelled Zinner. One cue, the four pilots switched their optics to thermal mode.

"This is weird" said Banagher, looking at all the interference on the monitor. Abruptly, his helmet was filled with a crack of static. " Crap" he cursed switching to laser comm. Thankfully, he heard Marida and the others voice on the channel.

"The PD team has Mineva, Phlanax prepare for enemy attacks." shouted Yosef.

Rushing in the middle of the PD formation Mineva's mind was racing. Banagher, was he ok? The smoke made it impossible to see while in the spaceway and they couldn't see anything from inside the station. "Roger that" said Robert. "They're under attack, but holding. She let out a sigh of relief. He was OK. At least for now.

Thrusters at full power, the Kshatriya tumbled out of the way of two rockets. Not even 40 seconds after the smoke, the air was filled with enemy rocket and machinegun fire. To make things worse, the smoke had been impregnated with Minovsky particles, rendering radar useless and causing their sensor to fuzz up. The teams only saving grace was that the fire was slow to come, allowing them time to get into a better formation.

" I can't see crap through this smoke" she griped, shooting down two more missiles with her funnels.

" Reminds me of the Kalahari" said Zinner, rolling under a volley of machine gun fire. It was probably a 120mm, he thought.

"Stow it guys." yelled Yosef, slicing though the smoke. "Were lucky the enemy can't see either." A burst of fire swiped over the group, clipping Zinner's Zulu's antenna off. "See, my point? Anyway, Banagher should be in position by now. Ready?"

"Oorah!" they shouted.

"Keep firing" yelled the terrorist commander "We'll hit them eventually!" To hell, with the alliance, long live zeon, he thought. He dropped the magazine to his rifle to reload. He never made the change. Out of the smoke, Banagher's Unicorn roared, phychoframe pulsing with green newtype energy. "LET DANCE, SCUM!" raged Banagher, Gundam holding the beam hawk in his left and firing his beam magnum with his right. The magnum's high pressure beam cut thorough the leader's Dreissen. As it disintegrated, Banagher never stopped. Keeping the throttle at full power, he whipped the Gundam though the enemy squad, weaving though their hail of fire. "Finally, sensors work." he shouted. "Eight suits, Marida, light em up!"

"Got it!" yelled Marida. The plan was going perfectly. Using the two suits phychoframes, the sensors of the two suits synched, giving the Kshatriya all of the targeting data she needed. " Firing!" Eight particle cannons fired in synch, showering the enemy squad with lethal beams of light. Following the beams out of the slowly dissipating clouds of smoke, the Remus and Zulu raced into the fray. Banahger was already hacking away at a another suit, leaving only six after Marida's barrage. Zinner let out a roar as he ripped though a suit with burst of machine gun fire.

The remaining five tried to pull back but, Yosef caught the last one with his beam spear. Then, the unthinkable happened. The remaining four suits, two Zaku III, a Gaga type and a Hizack, turned tail and charged Yosef and his squad. With barely enough time to react, Yosef found himself grappling with the Hizack. While sometime pilots will talk to the enemy when in direct contact, He found it distracting, and instead focused on killing the enemy unit.

A few meters away, Zinner was also engaged in hand to hand with a enemy Zaku. However, this was right up his alley. Fighting EFF forces, often with outdated with outdated suits, the grizzled old vet's favorite strategy was to lure enemies into nice tight quarters. Then, jump on top of them, and pummel them. Right now, he was in his niche. Hacking into the enemies right shoulder with his heat hawk, he was frustrated when it stuck into the thick armour. Must have be modified, he thought. The enemy was still clinging to him and was trying to kick him off. Not going to happen. Zinner manipulated the controls and drew his specialty weapon. Ten foot spike of lunar titanium, installed in a brass knuckle grip, designed to punch through armour, draw out, and punch again. Needless to say, he wasted no time going to work, piercing out the mono eye, then tearing out the elbow joint and finally, driving the spike though the cockpit. "Heh, I'm getting old." he groaned, noticing that his breathing was ragged. He turned to see Banagher tearing the cockpit out of the suit that charged him. Dang, that phychoframe was strong. " Last one went after Marida " said Banagher.

"Poor fool" joked Yosef, coasting his Remus into the formation. Behind him floated a Zaku that resembled something more of a pile of scrap. Hehe, my God I loved this job.

"That little roach" groaned Marida. She let her guard down, slipped into tiredness for half a second and the enemy gaga had slashed and smashed up her suit. It didn't last long, the Kyshatria had grabbed the little bug and cut into three pieces. Depite that, she was still shaken, if she hadn't had her E-field up, her suit would have been heavily damage, possibly even injuring her. "Marida, come in Marida."

"I'm fine" she sighed, she couldn't even tell who it was over the interference.

"Thank God" the voice cracked, allowing some of Yosef's Israeli accent to leak through. "I saw your wing was smoking. Don't tell me that amateur got you ?"

"Don't get soft on me, old man"

"This is PD. VIP is secured, I repeat, VIP is buttoned up." cracked the radio.

"Roger that, Phlanax is RTB" responded Yosef.


	6. Down Time

"Well, we have a two weeks of travel to out next stop" announced Yosef

"Two whole week?" asked Bangher "whats the hold up?"

"Meteor showers" he replied.

"Two weeks in cramped spaces, filled us maniacs. What could possibly go wrong?"

**00000000000000000000000**

**Day three of fourteen**

"What the heck is going on here." yelled Yosef, couching as a black smoke poured through the hall.

Sabotage? Unlikely. Electric fire. Quite plausible, he thought. The fire systems were already kicking in, venting the smoke, so he got low and moved to what seemed to be the source of the smoke. The kitchen. Carefully touching the door to insure it was cool, Yosef slid the door open. However, as he took in the scene before him, al he could do was laugh. Mineva, Banagher and Marida were standing around covered in extinguisher foam. There was something smoldering on the stove and for some reason, there was a rifle magazine next to the ingredients on the middle island along with several empty shell casings.

"Anyone want to explain what happened here" he said, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.

Miveva was the first to speak, "Well, Banagher found out that I didn't no how to cook, so he offered to teach me how"

"And, what were you making?" continued Yosef

"Beef Stew" replied Banagher, combing the foam out of his hair.

"Which brings me to the rifle mag and casings, what the frack are those for?"

"While Banagher stepped out of the room, I happened to walk by" started Marida " When Mineva told me how long the beef takes to tenderize, i thought that we could speed it up"

"So you put, let me see" Yosef said, picking up the mag "Two, three rounds of 7.62/ 55 grain into the pot."

"Yes" The three replied, heads down

"Marida, that was genius!" The room was again to filled with laughter. "But one week laundry duty"

"What?!"

"Banagher, Mineva, carry on"

**0000000000000000000000**

**Day six of fourteen**

Yosef, stood next to Marida on the starting line of the kill house, shot timer in one hand.

"Shooter ready?" he called.

Griping her rifle in a low ready stance, she nodded. This was the deal. Each week, the four squad leader would gather at the Argama's extensive shoot house. They would run, the course and the lowest score would pay for drinks. While at the beginning Banagher was their main source for a while, he was getting better and giving Zinner a run for his money.

"Go!" he shouted.

Loosening, her shoulders and relaxing, Marida lifted her rifle and dashed thought the door. Angling around the corners, the first room presented two targets behind a table. Barely stoping she double tapped each target and moved to the next. Seeing the door closed and locked she opted to kick it in. Driving the heel of her foot into the door, she crouched down, firing into another target. Coming to the last room of the building, cleared it, cutting down the three targets.

"Stop" called Yosef "Score check" He moved into the three rooms. The first two were text book double taps, if a little sloppy. However, the last room was unexpected. "Marida, you missed the kill zone, hit this guy in the arm. You feeling ok?"

"Frack, I'm fine" she lied, her sleeping problem and night terrors were still giving her sleeping problems.

"Well, that settles it, everyone. Maridas buying!"

A round of cheers ensued from the observation tower. "Too the Officers Club!" boomed Zinners Jolly voice.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000**

**Day nine of fourteen**

Boredom was beginning to set in. Nine days gave you alot of time, so rifles were clean, suits maintained, clothes cleaned and any chores done.

"It's been so long since i've had nothing to do. Do you have any fives?" Banagher, Zinner and Yosef were sitting around playing card. Marida was off with the other girls on the ship somewhere.

"Go fish. Maybe this is what a peacetime army is like?" said Yosef " Sit around, maintenance, train. I could get used to this. Any two's?"

"Crap, you got me. Lt. you'd go crazy without action. You live for the hunt."

The thought of a peaceful Yosef was enough to extract a chuckle from all of them. As they were settling down, the door slid open and Marida came though, arm full of packages.

"Mail came" she said

Yosef got up to help. "Awsome, care packages" said Zinner joyfully. " I got extra hot sauce, anyone want to trade?"

"Tabascha? I'll trade you a chocolate bar" replied Banagher

"Anyone want a... oooo punching balloons!" Wide eyed and smirking, Yosef inflated balloon.

"Don't you dare.." boing boing boing,on cue he started bouncing it in her face " I swear, who ever sent you that package," as quick as flash, she whipped out her knife and popped the balloon.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

"Come on Lt. dont be mean" chided Zinner

"Yes, father" he drawled sarcastically. The second balloon was already inflated, but this time, Yosef had poured a bit of water inside. So now as he started bouncing the balloon against Maridas head, and she pulled the knife, the balloon went POP, and the water went splash.

"YOSEF TAKERU!" scream a soaked, knife wielding Marida

"I thought only my mom called me that" he said rushing out the door, as the red head dropped the knife and chased after him.

Banagher and Zinner sat together for a minute, eating chips, listenings to the screams and laughter coming from the hall.

"What you think, kid? Love at first site?"

"Oh, yes"

**0000000000000000000000**

**Day eleven of fourteen**

Knock Knock Knock

"Uh, who the heck, it's two in the morning" mumbled a tired and disoriented Banagher. Opening the door, he saw Marida standing with a evil smile on her face. "What's up ?"

"Revenge" She said, holding up with a box.

several hours later

"Ah, better check my LBE (Load Bearing Equipment) while I'm here" mumbled Yosef. Since gear lockers were right by the flight deck, it was always a good idea to make sure mags were loaded, webbing secure and trauma kits were still stocked. Punching in the lock code, he clicked on the light"

"WHAT THE FRACK!? WHO DID THIS?!" he yelled, holding his tactical vest. However, it was covered in glitter. Sparkly, rainbow, glitter. His whole locker was plastered in it. " Aww, crap, this sucks." He started brushing the glitter off his vest, when he noticed a weird shaped in his grenade pouch. "What is " he said, shoving his hand into the pouch. "WHAT THE!"

Meanwhile, Marida sat on her room, watching the scene on her laptop via hidden camera. " Suffer" she droned. Across the room, Miveva and Micott were watching, slightly concerned.

"Do you think she's lost it?"

"No, i think she likes him..."

**00000000000000000000000**

**Day thriteen of fourteen**

Heartbeat racing, sweat pouring, Yosef looked down at the treadmills, digital read out read 30 mins. "Ok," he thought, "power time." Hitting his Ipod's touch screen, switching the song to a heavy hitting metal track. Running was the perfect way to stay in shape and release stress. Spriting, ears filled with music, Yosef could relax, plan, and...

"Yosef" shouted a familiar voice, snapping him back to reality. Cutting the treadmills speed and his Ipod's volume, he saw Zinner and Mineva standing beside him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We need your help." said Mineva "It's about Marida. Let's walk and talk." Wiping the sweat from his brow, Yosef followed Zinner and Mineva from the gym, down the hall towards Marida's quarters.

"So what exactly are we doing?" he asked

"Intervention," replied Zinner " you'll see when we get there"

"Ok" he said. Marida wasn't someone who seemed likely to breakdown, panic or go crazy. In fact, she seemed like the toughest of them. What could be happening?

"We're here, get ready" Zinner cautioned as they approached the crew quarters. Stacking on the side of the door as if they were breaching a hostile door, Zinner nodded to Mineva, signalling for her to do... something.

"Marida, it's Mineva." she said, knocking on the cabin door. As Marida, clicked the lock off, Mineva, who was surprisingly strong for her small size, threw the door open. Simultaneously, Zinner bursted around the corner, tackling Marida as she stood, frozen by surprise in the door way. "What the frack is going one?" She yelled as he proceeded to flexcuff her. "Don't look at me," said Yosef, holding his hands up. That's when Mineva hit the lights switch, and he saw the state of the quarters. "Holy crap, what is with your room?" he asked, quite shocked.

"See why we needed an intervention?" Mineva said, wadding through a ankle deep pile of laundry. Whether it was dirty, clean or both, he didn't want to know.

"Ok so my room is a bit out of order, whats the big deal?" complained Marida, wiggling on the floor.

"Ok, Marida, remember that mission i told you about in Beruit?" said Zinner. She nodded in reply. "I was sleeping in a bombed out, half rubble, building" he continued "It was frying hot with five men in one room. It was still cleaner than this." He began picking up various scraps of trash.

"Now, were sure you probably have a reason that you're room got messy, and if you want to talk, reschedule things, were here to listen." continued Mineva. That was a understatement, thought Yosef. The floor of the room was not visible, covered in clothing, scraps of paper and wrappers. The desk was a mess of files and paper cups, some still half filled with liquid. Yosef had tossed grenades into room, and the aftermath had looked better that this. However, the room wasn't all of it though. Marida looked haggard, with dark circle under her eyes, and hair frazzle.

"Ok..." she sighed. Marida realized that nothing would come of resisting. "Can you guys help me clean?"

" 'Course" replied Zinner, slicing the cuffs off and helping her to her feet.

**_Later..._**

With the room cleaned and Marida seeming a bit better, Marida and Yosef were hauling trash to the garbage disposal.

"Hey, LT. This might be none of my business, but when did you start drinking?" cautiously asked Yosef.

"Recently..."

"I don't have a problem with it, just keep it under control"


	7. The Easy Job

First of all, i just wanted to say thank you for all the feedback i've been getting. I really appreciate the encouragement and constructive criticism I read all of the reviews and am going to try and refine the work and characters a bit more.

"So next stop, hippie colony?" said Banagher, slouched down with in a chair. Dang, this kid was obviously picking up some of Yosef and Zinners habits. His mannerism, while not unrefined, were picking up a rough side to them. He even had started fazing out his jeans for cargo pants.

"Something liked that" replied Marida, "should be an easy one, guard will be there mostly for show and publicity." The squad leaders were all in the meeting room a couple minutes early, sitting around the circular wooden tables, reading files, researching new tactics. Except, Zinnerman, who was napping.

The doors slid open, Mineva walking in. The four, immediately, jumped to their feet and snapped a salute.

"At ease" she said, in her usual, casual but elegant manner. " Have a seat, let's get this meeting started."

"Next colony, Mano, aka, Hippie colony" said Yosef, " Threat level minimum, no armed forces, no police, however, they do have a strategic position, which is why we are here to negotiate. The Gov wants them to allow ships to refuel at the port."

"Looks easy enough" commented Zinner "What do you want to do about security?"

"You four, and a Jesta squad should be enough" said Mineva "We need to have our best looking suits on display."

"Also we will be performing some publicity acts" Yosef informed them.

All the pilots let out some kind of grunt, groan or complaint.

000000000000000000000000000

**_Argama on final approach, all pilots, prepare to launch._**

"This is Yosef to all pilots, lets make this look good." Punching the throttle, his Remus's thruster roared to life, cueing the catapult to fling him into space. Behinds him, the Unicorn, Custom Gera Zulu, Kshatriya and four Jestas followed, leaving a propellant trail in their wake.

"All stations accounted for, form into parade/defense formations." Yosef barely needed to says this. All of the crew was so experienced, that they could change formation a a whim. Or so he thought, "Lt, your slightly out of formation, shift twenty meters to your right."

"Frack, won't happen again" Marida replied, correcting her course. Sleep deprivation was setting in, muscles were weary but tolerable. Cursing, she popped open a side pouch on her cockpit and grabbed a pill case. She really didn't want to resort to this, but the lieutenant needed a boost. Popping the case open, she shook two out and downed them. The modified caffeine mixture hit immediately, sending her into a heightened state of awareness.

"Port abroaching" said Banagher. The decision had been made for him and the Unicorn to lead the formation. It was more peaceful than the Gera Zulu, less predator looking than the Kshatriya, and less dark than the Remus. It's full white color was nice and not aggressive or morbid. Perfect for a diplomatic mission.

"All suits, synchronize to colony rotation and prepare for landing."

00000000000000000000000000000000

The air hissed out of the airlock as the pressure equalized. Stepping though the automatic door, the tired and sore pilots, tossed their helmets on the benches and began swapping their normal suits for their regular duty clothes.

"That was one hot landing you pulled out there, Marida-san" jibed Banagher.

"It wasn't that bad" she shot back.

"Skidmarks and sparks on the hanger deck." said Zinner, with a hearty laugh "It gave the crowds a nice thrill."

"Guys, Guys, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. Besides, did you see the slow motion replays?" replied Yosef "Epic"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" said Marida, stowing her suit and bail out gear in the locker. Leaving the locker room behind, she walked though the long corridors towards her room. Hand shaking, due to the stims she had taken in the cockpit, the automatic doors were a welcome help. Taking a deep breath to steady her self, the Lt. locked the door, and pulled a bottle of whiskey out from her drawer. The cycle had to stop, thought Marida. Take stims to stay alert in on duty, use alcohol to stop the jitters after the missions. The cycle was taking it's toll. According to her flight logs, she was losing reaction time, and finer manipulations. "Frack, this needs to end" she sighed, collapsing on her bed, knocked out from the intoxication and stim crash.

000000000000000000000000000

** Several days later**

The Unicorn, Kshyatria, Gera Zulu and Remus, stood in the linear catapult of the Nahel Argama. Today's schedule was an air show in celebration of the successful negotiations. The four suits would be fly in close formation, showing off maneuverability and basically looking cool. Due to the "peaceful" disposition of the colony, no weapons would be displayed. "Displayed" is the key words here. Each of the suits close in weapons systems were loaded and they all had been fitted with concealed weapons, just in case.

"This is flight leader, team what should we call our little circus act?" called Yosef, clicking his Remus into the linear catapult.

" White Eagles?"

"Only you have a white suit, Banagher. Zinner, your turn."

" Royal Gaurd?"

"I like it " said Marida, a little over enthusiastically. Stupid, jitters, she thought.

"It fits, lets run with it" he said, clicking his helmet into place. "This is Royal Gaurd actual, requesting launch permission."

"This is CIC. You are cleared, give em a show"

"Oorah. Yosef, Jesta Remus, Let's roll" With that, the catapults magnetic field slung the suit out of the hanger deck."

"Banagher, Gundam Unicorn, heading out"

"Zinnerman, Gera Zulu, Launching"

Hearing, the roar of the Gera Zulus thrusters, Marida moved the Kyshatria to the launch deck. Get a hold of yourself, she thought, now is not the time for weakness. " Marida Cruz launching "

0000000000000000000000000000000000

Now presenting the Nahel Argama Royal Gaurd

The crowds roared as the four giant suits roared over the grandstands of the Colony Section 4 Airport. In a colony like this, with no standing military a sight like this was rare and was savored by the denizens of the colony. The seats were packed, adults, children all cheering for the four giants hovering over the tarmac.

"Looks like we have a crowd" said Yosef " Let's give em a show" Gunning the throttle, the Jesta shot up in a rapid climb, followed by the Unicorn. The Kshatriya and the Zulu followed, weaving a helix pattern as they criss-crossed through the sky.

"All right" he shouted "Double Farvel " On command the four suits scattered and then reassembled. Flying in close, Bangher lined his suit parallel to Yosef as Marida and Zinner sandwiched them in between theirs. Flying with barely two meters of clearance of required an amazing amount of finesse, especially when you are controlling a several ton machine at hundreds of kilometers. But, thats what they were payed for. Keeping the formation, they pulled into a series of loops and roll. The last roll came down low and buzzed the stands, causing the crowed to go wild.

"Haha" laughed Zinner " Time for the finale?"

"Heck yea!" yelled Yosef "30 sec till formation change"

Tapping the comm read out, he opened a private channel to the Kshatriya.

"Lt, you doing ok?" he said "Your reactions are slower than usual and you suit is drifting"

"I'm fine" she snapped back. The truth could be nothing further. That morning, Marida tired from another nightmare filled night, had left her stims in the locker room. A month of sleepless nights coupled with acute stim withdrawal ( not unlike a severe caffeine crash ) were kicking in at just the wrong moment.

"If you say so" he replied " All units, Delta formation then Diamond Aileron Roll. Keep it tight."

While the Delta formation was a common and simple task, the Diamond was a far more daunting maneuver. The four suits would form a vertical diamond then simultaneously perform alerion rolls. A little bit of wrong positioning, and you'd hit one of the other suits, causing an uncontrolled spin, damage and possible crash.

Not a good maneuver to be doing while suffering from cramps and fatigue as Marida was about to find out. As she pulled the Kshatriya into the roll, the resulting Gs and the vertigo were overwhelming. While this normally would not have been a problem, in her exhausted state, her body could not compensate.

Banagher, due to his Newtype abilities, was the first to react. " Everyone move !" shouted as the Kshatriya spun out of control.

"What the.. " said Zinner as the suit, suddenly nose dived.

"Marida-san!" yelled Banahger, diving after her.

"Frack!" There was no way at this speed that Banagher could stop the dive. The only thing Yosef and Zinner could do was get down to the ground to do immediate search and rescue. "Not like this. This wasn't how it should end" said Zinner through clenched teeth. As he continued his decent with the Remus , he could see the Unicorn grab Marida before disappearing into a cloud of dust as they hit the ground.

"EMT's are en rout" informed Yosef as he set the Remus down and popped the cockpit open. "Zinner get on crowd control, I'm going to see if I can do anything" Grabbing a medic bag, he slid down the exit rope and ran into the cloud of debris where the two suits had crashed. "Banagher, Lt. Cruz do you read?" nothing but static. The smoke and dust was so thick Yosef couldn't see anything. He tried again. "Banagher, Marida, anyone there ?"

"I read you, sir" said a garbled voice.

"Banagher? Is that you?"

"Yes, I'm ok, but I can't get any response from Marida-san."

"Crap, activate your emergency transponder, i can't see crap in this dust."

"Roger" he replied. After a second, a bilking dot appeared on the pilot helmet HUD. " Got you. Im coming, see how the Kshatriya is." ordered Yosef. Jogging toward the indicator, he could now see the silhouettes of the crashed suits. As he got closer, he could tell the two apart, and saw Banagher standing by the cockpit of the Kshatriya. " Captain, help me open the hatch" he shouted. As Yosef climbed the enormous, green suits frame, he noticed the lack of structural damage. " It won't open?" he asked as he stood next to Banagher. " It think the hydraulics are damaged" he replied, gesturing to the oil seeping from the seams. " The lock's disengaged" he continued, grabbing hold of one side of the hatch. "Let's pull on three" said yosef, grabbing the other side. "One, two, threeee" he strained as the cockpit creaked open. "Oh, no" exclaimed Banagher, as he saw Marida lying limp in the pilots seat. He pushed aside the control panel and tried to grab her, but was stopped by Yosef

"Don't move her" ordered the Capt. While the inside of the All View Monitor cockpit, looked fine save for some oil leakage they didn't know whether Marida had any spinal injuries. Thankfully, the new generation pilot suits had integrated trauma sensors. So with a push of a button, Marida's vital and injury condition popped onto their HUD's. " No spinal or neck injuries" reported Yosef. "Ok, grab her, lets get out of the crash site." As the kid moved to grab her, Yosef stuck his head out of the cockpit to do an area check. The smoke had cleared and he could now see the crowds gathered at the perimeter that Zinner had set up. The ambulances were rolling across the field, red lights flashing. "This could have been a whole lot worse" he mumbled, as he helped pull Banagher and an unconscious Marida out of the hatch.

Next time...

"What the frack do you mean I'm grounded"

" I don't know how to deal with her"

I made the call i wish i didn't have to...

Thanks for reading. Review, follow, fave if you like. If you're feeling extra nice, make an account when you review so i can reply to your review.

till the next time,

SKAK45


	8. Closed

_ beep, beep, beep_

Where am I, though Marida as she struggle to clear her mind. The whole world seemed foggy as she tried to open her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the Kshatriya's warning lights blaring, and the sickening feeling of overwhelming G-forces. Everything, after that seemed soo fuzzy.

"Marida-san, you're awake." shouted Banagher, who by the looks of his un-changed pilot suit had been sitting there for a while.

"Oww, quiet voice please," she said " I feel like i have a bad hangover"

"Sorry," he replied, lowering his voice to a regular level. " Zinner is running some test on the Kshatriya, though damage seems to be minimal."

"I see" Marida replied, leaning back into her pillows " Where is the Cpt. ?"

"Oh, he's been here the whole time," said Banahger "He pulled you out of the cockpit, and was by you ever since." Smirking a bit, he asked. " Is there anything between you two?"

"What? No, No, there's nothing like that, she replied, slightly taken back by Banagher blunt question "I mean, he's a nice guy and good looking but..."

"But what, you've known each other for a couple months now" he interjected " I think that he genuinely cares for you, maybe he doesn't even realize it yet. Still, i think i might be good for you guys to talk, and see if there is something."

Leaning back even deeper, Marida let out a chuckle. That was Banagher for you, intuitive, caring and always willing to help.

"Maybe," she said, " I'll see what he looks like when he comes back"

As if on cue, the doors slid open, and Yosef came storming into the room. Tossing the clip board he was holding onto Marida's lap, he folded his arms and coldly growed " explain to me, Cruz, why the frack you thought it was a good idea to be on combat stims and alcohol at the same time."

Almost as if something within her had been building up, Marida snapped back at him. " I had $#ht going on and i dealt with it. I needed those to keep me in the pilot seat."

"Marida-san what are you..."

" Banagher, leave, that's an order " barked Yosef, sending him skittering from the room.

" D nm it, Lt. what the frack is going on with you? Let me help, let us help."

"It's none of your business." she said coldly.

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Yosef gave one final directive as he left the room. "Those substances and your attitude just cost you your position. You're off the flight line and demoted to Warrant Officer until further notice." As much as Yosef wanted to be friends with his team, he knew that protocol needed to be followed. As he left her room, he thought he might have heard a muffled sob, but thought nothing of it.

The next days for the Argama crew were awkward to say the least. the atmosphere was tense, if not down right, cold war hostile. Marida walked around doing her punitive tasks with robot like efficiency. However, if anyone attempted to talk to her, they were only met with silence and glares. Her heart and mind were completely sealed. The Lt.(well currently WO) avoided any of her fellow officers, especially Banagher, Zinner and Yosef. Not even Mineva, who she considered to be the salvation of her people was able to get her to talk. So it continued, the slow wearing of nerves, the awkward hallway silences and the silence, until one late night.

"I don't think I can take this crap anymore" said Yosef, dropping to the locker room floor after a particularly brutal hand to hand training session. His whole body ached but his arms burned from a hammer fist Marida had dropped on it using a very unusual counter attack.

" Just you?" asked Zinner, stowing his mouth guard before plopping down across from him. " Don't think that Banagher and I are feeling any better than you. Marida has completely shut us out."

"It's sad isn't it" Banagher said, joining them on the floor. " Marida is a good person but something inside is hurting her."

"Well as her friends we can't just sit here and do nothing." grunted Yosef. " Zinner, you're like her father can't you talk to her?"

" Belive me, I tried. However, I think now is when we need a mothers touch. I wish that she had someone like that right now." said Zinner, resting his face in his hands.

"Mother" mumbled Yosef " that might just work." As he righted himself, The Cpt. said " I think I know someone who could help" And with those words, he set out to do the thing he had kept avoiding.

Thousand of miles away, on earth, in the city of Galilee, Israel, a phone rang in a small inn. The owner, an average looking, well built Israeli woman was busy closing the kitchen when she picked up the receiver.

"Thank You for calling Azuri. Sarai speaking." She chimed. Her cheerful aditude was one of the things that had helped her run the business for almost 10 years now.

" Hi mom" said Yosef sitting in the com room of the N. Argama.

"Yosef!" she exclaimed, loud enough to hurt his ears, even over the phone. " why haven't you called me recently? "

"Well... Cause last time I did you tried to set me up with one of your lady friends daughters... It's been kinda hectic lately" he replied.

" Is this becuase I tried to introduce you to Esters daughter?" 'Crap, she's onto me' he thought. " look, if your not interested in women I won't...".

" I'm not gay mom" he interrupted as he facepalmed. " I just had some trouble.."

"Trouble?!" She yelled again, " did you get injured? What happened? Was it mustard gas?"

Double facepalm. As much as he loved his mom, Yosef hated that she was extreamly overreactive to anything invoving him. Motherly love he guessed.

" Mom, calm down for a bit. I'm fine. They don't even make that stuff anymore." He said in him most reassuring voice. " I'm calling because I'm having some problems with a member if my team. I thought as a mother you could give me some advice about her."

" Her? Yosef, did you ..." before she could finish Yosef had read where this one was going.

" No mom! She is not pregnant!" He shouted. " I'll explain it all but it's a long story."

" I'm hear to help." She sweetly said. For all of her overreaction and eccentricity, when it came time to talk, she had always been there for Yosef and his father. Over the next half hour Sarai patiently listened to Yosef and Marida's story, only speaking when she needed to ask for clarification.

After listening and a few minutes of processing, she finally spoke.

" I think the best thing you and your friends can do is just be there for her. And when I mean there I mean present at any time you can be."

To Yosef this was all new territory. Comforting and sympathy were not his strong points. " what am I even supposed to say?" He asked, desperate for more concrete ideas.

"As little as you can" his mother replied.

"What? How does tha help? "

" do you remember how you felt when Abah passed?"

"How could I forget?" He said. Just thinking about he days when his grandfather succumbed to cancer brought tears to his eyes.

" I sat I the old simulator for days."

" and when you would I would come next to you and sit there for as long as I could. I didn't say anything, but just being there made you feel better didn't it?"

Thinking back it was true. All Sarai had done during Yosef's darkest time was sit with him. That was all that had mattered. That someone else was there with him.

" I think I get it. " he said, now with a new confidence that he knew what to do. " Thanks for being there Mom. "

" Always will be" she replied " and one more thing, Yosef. This Marida, she seems like a really nice girl. You've know her for a couple months now and you seem to care about her. I don't think you've ever gone this far or deep to help someone before. Just a mothers intuition but, there might be something there, dear."

" Haha, no" he laughed " listen, I need to go now so, I love you mom"

" love you too, Yosef" she said as the line cut. 'Nothing?' she thought ' righhhht'

And as Yosef left the comm room to talk to Zinner and the others, in the back of him mind there was a 'maybe' to his moms last comment.

**Next time...**

"Enemy contacts, closing in at at high speeds."

"How the frack did they get a Carl Gustave?"

"Where did you go?"


End file.
